There are a wide variety of multi-component coating compositions available for finishing automobiles and trucks. Various coating compositions comprising anhydride or epoxy containing compositions are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,677 discloses a composition comprising an acrylic anhydride polymer, a glycidyl component, and a phosphonium catalyst. European Patent Application 3,793 discloses a two component composition in which one component has an anhydride ring that is opened with an amine and a second component contains glycidyl groups. U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,736 and British patent 994,881 disclose coating compositions comprising polyepoxides and maleic anhydride copolymers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,791 concerns a coating composition comprising a polyepoxide, a monomeric anhydride curing agent, and a hydroxyl containing polyfunctional polymer.
A problem with present coating compositions for automobiles and trucks, or parts thereof, is that durability is not as good as desired. An important aspect of durability is environmental resistance. The present invention offers a high quality finish exhibiting superior environmental resistance. Another problem with epoxy-anhydride systems has been that, due to limited pot life, they have been used as a two package system, which packages are conventionally mixed shortly before use. The present composition is a potential one-package system. Such a coating composition exhibits excellent adhesion to the substrate to which it is applied, good outdoor weatherability, etch resistance, and gloss.